Pregnancy: Life or Death?
by PrincessxPunk
Summary: <html><head></head>What happens shortly after Lori dies giving birth when Daryl finds out the woman he had feelings for and acts upon those feelings reveals to him that she's pregnant. Will Daryl leave or will he stay and protect his new family?</html>
1. Chapter 1

It was what seemed like a normal day at the prison, everybody was going about their normal lives, well what was left of a normal life after the zombie outbreak started... and I was one of them. Recently I started to feel funny, and after about a week of getting sick I finally realized what was making me feel so funny... I was pregnant. After finding out this, I started to feel uneasy, I knew during the last few months I was with only one guy... and I knew that he wasn't the type to show any emotions, and you didn't really want to bring a child into this dangerous world, but I didn't really have a choice.

After a while I was trying to hide my growing belly from the rest of the group, not really because I felt shame, but because I didn't know how the others would handle it. When I started to feel the baby move around and kick, I thought that now would be the time I'd approach the baby's father. After everybody calmed down for dinner, and everybody started to talk and laugh, I sat by myself and ate slowly because I knew what was going to happen... I glanced over at Daryl and quickly looked back when he turned his head to look at me. I didn't know how this was going to go over, but it had to be done.

After dinner, I walked over and cleaned my plate. I stood there and helped Carol collect everybody's plate to help wash dishes and like always Daryl was the last one to finish. After he put his plate down and mumbled something I excused myself and walked over and said "Hey Daryl, can I talk to you?" and he turned around and looked at me sternly and said "What do you want?" with a stern tone, and I walked over and said "Can we talk somewhere else, more private" and he was looking at I like I were crazy. I walked over to the fence and looked out at the walkers trying to get in and kind of choked up. I turned back and saw him standing there "Well... what do you want?" in his stern tone, I looked at him and twiddled my fingers and said ... "Well.. umm uh..." and he was getting impatient and I could see it in his eyes "Well... umm uh... well... you... remember..." "What? Spit it out. I ain't got time for 20 questions or charades!" and I finally got it out "Well.. umm uh... well... do you remember the night in the guard tower? When we were supposed to be on watch?" and Daryl looked at me with a puzzled look on his face "... Why you bringing it up? For your information if you wanted it to happen tonight, it ain't gonna happen!" and I bit my lip and choked up and said "Well... no, actually no as fun as it was, no I don't expect it tonight or any other night" and he looked and said "Okay. So what you want to tell me I ain't got time to talk all night I gotta keep watch Hurry it Up" and you felt the baby kick right when he said that. I grabbed for his hand and he pulled it away and was like "What do you think you're doing?!" and I said "I just wanted to see your hand, it looked like you were bleeding" and he was said "Don't worry about it, I'm a tough guy, I don't need you taking care of me!" and he started to walk off and I grabbed his free hand and he turned back suddenly and was just about to yell at me when I said "Hold on!" and he stopped and I placed his hand on my stomach which I had tried to keep hidden. He looked at you and said "So what? You're just going to bring another child into this Hell on Earth like Lori did and what? What are you going to do with it?!" and I looked at him and with a stern tone said "I understand that you're not an emotional person, but this baby inside of me is your child! The least you could do is pretend to be happy, but you're so fucking scared and you know don't want to show emotion, but apparently you just want to be on your own, so you know what... GO! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! Maybe one day in this world gone to shit a real man will come along and be a dad to your son or daughter!

I started to walk off, and he grabbed my arm and I said in a harsh tone "Let go of me!" and I went to grab for my knife to make him back off, and he went and pinned me against the fence, and said "You know what? I am a real man! What happens if nobody comes along and you have to take care of this child by your own?! What happens than? You going to keep going and try to survive? On your own with a crying baby, with all these walkers and... and then what? You both get bitten or ate? Guess what? I do care! You may not fully understand, but yeah I do give a shit about you and this baby!" He let me go, right as soon as Rick and Hershel came out to say it was my time to keep watch. I looked at him and he looked at me and Rick looked at Hershel and they knew what was going on with you two. They heard the tail end of the argument. Daryl asked Hershel to check me out and make sure the baby was growing and everything. After Hershel said everything was going perfectly with my pregnancy, I went out to the guard tower where Daryl was and told him that the baby was healthy. After all the argument the rest of the night went by calmly. Daryl kept watch while I slept on the little scrap of mattress that was in the guard tower. I couldn't be more happier and scared at the same time...


	2. Chapter 2

I was washing the clothes for the people of the prison and all of a sudden I heard a big commotion at the gate and I saw there was a group of people standing at the gate and I noticed that everybody was begging for us to let them in. I noticed that Rick, Glenn and Daryl went down and investigated and noticed that they were carrying bags filled to the brim with items, and as I heard them ask each and every one 'Is anybody bitten' I was feeling a little uneasy. I knew that we needed more man power to survive against the growing numbers of undead, knowing that by each day my due date was coming up. I saw they were letting the strangers in and kinda let my guard down.

They had to pass a screening process, which was to show that they weren't bitten and that they weren't showing signs of being infected, and the next process was to show them to their bunks. One of them asked if there was a place where they could put all of their items down, and I kindly showed them where they could put the items at, and noticed that one of them kept his eye on every movement I made closely. He came up behind me and asked me something, and I responded the best I could. All of a sudden he put his hand on me, and I jumped about this time Daryl walked by and saw how uncomfortable I was and got in between us and grabbed the guy by his shirt collar and said 'Listen, the lady doesn't want to be touched. Which means you shouldn't touch her, dumbass' and then shoved him against the wall and said 'If you ever touch my girl and my child again I will stomp your ass. Got it?!' and the guy slowly swallowed and squeaked out 'Sorry' and Daryl slowly let him go and walked me back to the cell we shared together, and asked if I was okay and I said 'Yes' and he said 'I don't want you to go around those people again especially Mr. Grabby Hands' and I looked up at him and placed my arms around his neck and leaned into him for a kiss as far as I could despite my huge stomach. He placed both his hands on my stomach and sat down on the bed so his head was right next to my belly and asked 'Hows my Lil Ass Kicker today?' I just giggled. I had never seen him be this cute or emotional with anybody before, well maybe Judith, but this was different.

That night we sat down for dinner and everybody was laughing and carrying on. All anybody could talk about is how cute my belly looked and what they thought I was having. I kinda wanted to know, but what was I going to do have Daryl go on a run to get girl or boy items? I had to wait until the very moment that it happened to figure that out, secretly I wanted a little girl, but I didn't think it mattered really, because what life would she have now? Being on the run and fearing for her life every single day and not staying in one place for to long. I felt some how I failed this baby by bringing it into this Hell. It kept me up night after night, but suddenly Maggie brought me back to reality, by saying 'So, what do you think it is? A girl or boy?' and I said 'I kinda feel like it's a little girl, but yeah what do I know?' and Carl said in and said 'Maybe it's a little boy, so Judith will have a 'boyfriend' haha' and Rick said 'Now Carl, let's just be happy that Judith is going to have another baby to play with.'

That night I felt really weird, knowing that we had a strange group of people in the next cell block, but there was a lock on the door so I felt a little safer. I snuggled into Daryl as we slept on mats on the floor, since two of us couldn't share a bunk together. I tossed and turned, and couldn't sleep. I kept thinking the strange group was going to come in and attack us. Daryl reassured me that nothing bad was going to happen. I wanted to believe him, but truth be told I was still worried. I finally fell asleep and then I woke up with my vision blurry, and noticed Daryl wasn't there. I rubbed my eyes and Carol was standing outside the cell and asked if I needed anything and I said 'Nah. I... I just...where's Daryl' and she said 'Oh he's hunting' and I was relieved to hear that he was actually out doing something he loved to do rather than just sitting around like a bump on a log with me.

I got up and went out and started trying to pull my weight, but it seemed like every job was taken and Hershel said that Rick wanted me to take it easy, and just to have a few days to just be a normal pregnant woman. I was kinda happy, just me and my 'Lil Ass Kicker' as Daryl liked to call our child. I saw that a group of people were coming back, and they had bags filled with stuff, and I noticed one of them was Daryl, and I got up from the table I was sitting at and walked to the front gate to meet him and he was surprised to see me awake. Then Glenn took a bag and dumped it out on the table, and everything from comic books, to novels to pills dropped out. Daryl sat me down and opened his bag and showed me that he had all kinds of baby items, from bottles, formula, toys, and clothing. He said we're ready for anything that was fixing to be born. I felt great, knowing that he actually cared.

The next day I woke up and went outside to get some fresh air and everybody was still asleep and I noticed I was all by myself outside. I felt a strangeness, it was foggy and the sun was just now coming up, plus with the walker moans and groans it was even more errie. I suddenly found a hand on my shoulder and I thought it was someone wanting to know why I was outside and I turned around and noticed it was the same creep that I encountered the other day, and I was wondering what he was doing and he said 'Oh, just decided to come out and see if you needed any assistance you being pregnant and all' and I was like 'Thanks, but I'm fine, actually I was thinking about going back in and getting a little more sleep.' I went to turn away and I heard a gun cock and I swallowed and he said 'You're not going anywhere!' and I stood there frozen not knowing what to do. He walked me into the cell block where they were staying and tied me up and told me if I made a sound that it wouldn't be good. I was scared, I tried not to cry and all I could think of was my baby. Is this how my baby is going to die? Is she not even going to get a shot at this world? I kept whispering, please what ever you want you can have it. Just please please don't hurt my baby! He got right up in my face with a knife pointed straight at my stomach and said 'We're going to take this prison, and if we can't have it well neither can you!' and I said 'Please, just let me go! Please I don't think you want to deal with the rest of the people I'm with, they are nice people unless you harm one' and he said 'We aren't scared trust me!' and he started to walk off and looked back and said 'If I hear even a whimper, it's over for you!' and I had to hold back tears.

Meanwhile everybody else was just now waking up and Daryl noticed I wasn't there and searched everywhere for me. I could kinda hear him screaming my name that echoed through the whole prison. I could tell he was panicky, I wanted to scream out but I was scared to. All of a sudden I heard him start stomping towards my direction. I think he knew something was up and they walked up and said 'No we didn't see her' and about that time he said 'I know something happened and I know you guys are involved! Now let her go now and I won't hurt you!' and they said 'We haven't seen her!' and he walked off and said 'This isn't over!' and about this time Rick called a meeting outside and said that they were going to find me and that it was important.

About the time they were getting up, the other group and I were walking out and their leader shoved me to the ground after all I had been through with bruises up and down my arms and my skin all cut up, from them trying to get me to say something, they grabbed me and put a knife to my throat and shouted 'GIVE US THE PRISON AND SHE LIVES! I DON'T THINK YOU GUYS HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE AT THIS POINT!' and I felt the coldness of the steel on my neck and I started to cry, and I looked at Daryl and he lowered his crossbow when he saw me, and he said 'JUST LET HER GO! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS!' and Rick said 'JUST LET HER GO! WE CAN LIVE TOGETHER! NOBODY HAS TO DIE! WE CAN LIVE HERE TOGETHER YOU GUYS CAN HAVE ONE BLOCK AND WE CAN HAVE THE OTHER! JUST LET HER GO!' and the maniac started to laugh and said 'LIAR!' and cut my neck and I felt a little blood trickle down. I started to wimper and cry and begged for him to let me go. Daryl started to walk towards us and all a sudden he stopped and I began to hear guns being raised and cocked. I started to cry and managed to let slip out 'I love you Daryl!' and he mouthed the words 'I love you to' and all of a sudden I heard an arrow whoosh past me and the grip on me was released and I just fell to the ground and quickly laid down and closed my eyes and placed my hands on my belly and just laid there as the baby kicked as hard as it could.

After the sound of bullets slowed down and the sounds still echoed in my ears I heard foot steps come up and held my eyes as closed as much as I could and stay as still as I could. I heard crying near me and I was scared to open my eyes, and when I felt my body get lifted off the ground I kinda let my guard down and opened my eyes and I saw Daryl carrying me and I looked up at him and I whispered 'Daryl...' and he looked down at me and cried more. He brought me into the prison and laid me on a prison bunk mattress, and told me 'Don't move okay?' and I nodded and felt sore. Hershel came in and looked me over and looked at my arm and touched it and I screamed out in pain. He looked at me and said 'Looks like the bullet went straight through' and I kinda laughed as he wrapped it up and Daryl picked me back up and laid me back down on the bunk and sat down next to the bunk holding my hand and said 'I thought I lost you both!' and I said 'You won't have to worry about that, trust me you don't ever have to worry about that.' I knew it wasn't the truth but still, anything to let him have his moment. I drifted off to sleep with my hand in his, and nothing else could ruin this moment.


	3. Chapter 3

I was recovering slowly but surely, soon I was even able to get up and help with a few things people would let me actually do. Honestly, I wasn't able to do a lot of things I used to do around the prison, because everybody wanted me to have a normal motherhood experience. I finally found one job that I really liked to do, Rick gave me the job of caring for Judith while Beth, who normally cared for her, was doing the things I used to do. I guess it was his way of trying to prepare me for my on child. When Daryl wasn't out gathering supplies or hunting he was trying his best to prepare for impending fatherhood. I helped him out with a few things, since he said he didn't know what to do. There were nights where we had the full time parenting experience because she stayed with us a few nights a week, just to prepare us both for getting up in the middle of the night to care for our own baby.

Each night as I got ready for bed, I felt like I was going to explode. I always looked down at my belly and thought, 'How much more bigger can one get?' Every step I took my back hurt, and I could hardly move. I was so ready for this baby to get here, but also frightened. I put Judith down for the night and looked at her cute little face and hands and thought about how she'd never know her mom, and I looked down at my own baby and said 'I really don't want you to have to grow up without me, but if something does happen just know that both me and your daddy love you.' I brushed Judith's little face and admired how soft her skin was and started to cry. It seemed like everything was bothering me lately, the not knowing what was going to happen the not wanting to have my child grow up without me. About this time Daryl walked in and walked over to me I turned around and looked up at him and wiped my tears away. He leaned down and asked what was wrong and I told him about how I was scared that I would end up just like Lori when the time came. He hugged me and said he'd never let it happen and said it was time for me to get as much sleep as I could, I hadn't been sleeping lately mainly because the mattresses at the prison didn't have much comfort.

I laid down and nuzzled my face into Daryl's chest and let my guard down. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he finally was letting someone get close to him. I buried my face into his chest even more and got a good smell of his musk and I looked up at him and saw he was looking down at me and asked how I was feeling, and I said I was feeling as good as I looked, besides the pain of carrying a massive bump around. He said it was going to be okay and asked me to sit up and helped me up to a seated position. He got behind me and started massaging my back and with every touch to a pressure point I let out a low moan. I was surprised at how skilled he was with his hands. After a few minutes of him doing what he was doing I tried to suppress my moans because of how good it felt. He let go and helped me back into the bed we shared together. I looked up at him and he leaned down and kissed me. I felt the baby kick up a storm and kinda laughed and told him 'I don't think Lil Ass Kicker liked that' and he leaned down to my belly and rubbed it and started talking to our baby in the sweetest tone I had ever heard. I slowly drifted off to sleep and for the first time in a long time I actually felt safe.

The following morning I woke up to the sound of Daryl grunting in his sleep. Slowly I brushed the long hair out of his eyes and just laid there listening for other sounds of everybody else waking up and starting their daily chores. I heard the sound of cell doors opening and closing and footsteps approaching, so I kind of peeked out from under my covers to see Beth walking by and as she walked by she stopped in and said a few words and went about her way to go outside to work. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I also wanted to adventure outside of the cell. I decided to sleep a little bit longer and about the time I was fixing to drift back to sleep a crying sounded echoed from inside the cell, I had totally forgotten that Judith was in the cell with us and I tried my best to sit up and kept straining and straining myself to try to get up to get over to her. I broke down and started play hitting Daryl and trying to get his attention to wake up, but he was out of it. I kept trying and I just had to yell 'Help! Help!' and Carl came running into the cell and picked Judith up and looked at me and helped me up and he asked if I was okay and I said 'Yes, I just can't do really anything with this belly.' He looked down at my belly and looked up at me, and asked if he could ask me questions, until Daryl woke up and I looked at him and smiled and said 'Sure! I'd love the company.' He asked me if the baby was planned or just happened. I looked at him and looked at my belly and then looked over at Daryl and said 'I guess not, but if it makes any difference even if it wasn't planned doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose even in this horrible horrible world like this one.' He smiled and I added 'Your little sister has a purpose, who knows she might survive this whole thing! Even if she's just a baby she has a purpose and there's a reason everything works out the way it does.' He asked me another question which hit home for me, which if something came up with my pregnancy or delivery like what happened with his mom what would happen. I told him plainly, 'If it does happen I just hope this baby knows that I love he/she very much and that at one point it had two loving parents who cared, and that me and Daryl have talked about what was to happen said anything like that come up' He asked me another question about names me and Daryl had picked out for genders. 'We haven't really talked about names, we'd kinda rather just find out when the time comes, but we had agreed on if it was a girl her name would be Miracle because in all this plight and devastation miracles happen' he smiled again at me and about that time Daryl woke up with a loud growl. I looked at him and just started laughing, because I was happy he got a good night's sleep finally. I asked him how he slept and he said 'Actually pretty good. I had a great dream about our perfect little family and our cute baby' and I asked him if in the dream it revealed what we were expecting and he said 'No nothing really, all I saw was how cute you were with he/she' All I could think was 'Aww I can't wait til we get to see what I've been carrying all these months. I really didn't know how far along I really was, but I was so ready for this baby to be born. I was so ready for crying nonstop and the long nights up rocking and everything. I was especially ready to see Daryl in daddy mode.

Carl said he was happy to have someone to talk to, and I told him that anytime he just wanted to talk he was welcome to come find me. To be honest I was happy for the company, since I normally just sit away from the group and I'm normally always with Judith, feeding or just watching her sleep. It actually felt good that I was pulling some weight around by just sitting down with a baby. Me and Daryl got up and went outside and just tried to do whatever we could. I sat down as soon as I got outside because I couldn't really handle carrying this weight anymore. Daryl got a stick and said he'd be right back in a few minutes and he went to take down a bunch of walkers who were ganging up on the fences around the prison. I just sat there feeling the little baby kick and kick over and over as hard as it's little legs could. Carol walked over and offered me some food and said I had to keep my strength up. I smiled and kindly started to eat. A few minutes had passed and I kept my eyes trained on Daryl at the fence killing the walkers. I was really protective of him, even though he was more protective of me.

As the day went on I noticed Carol was cooking dinner, a deer that Daryl had found in the woods behind the prison, and I walked over and asked if I could help her and she said that I could help but minimal. It started to get dark, and I was making everybody a plate and drooling over the smell of the meat. I handed everybody a plate and Daryl came up and smiled at me as he took his plate and sat at his usual table. I got my plate and went over to sit beside him and I felt a kick and I knew the baby was hungry so I just started eating a piece of deer and laid my head on Daryl's shoulder and continued to eat. He didn't even shove me off actually he looked over at Glenn and Maggie who were looking at us and smiling. After everybody was finished everybody went to go put their plates up and when everybody was getting ready to take their shifts as guards, Daryl cleared his throat and said 'Attention everybody, I have an announcement to make.' everybody was looking at him and I looked at him because I didn't know what he had planned. He let me go sit down, and got down on one knee and looked up at me with his blue eyes, the bluest I had ever seen. He started digging in his pocket and pulled something out, and as he continued to look up at me he shuddered 'Would you... would you do me the honor... the honor of... of... of... uh... marrying me?' and I was crying about this time and I couldn't even speak, I nodded and he placed the ring on my finger and kissed me and kissed my belly and cried and said 'Your mommy said yes!' Everybody started to cheer and get excited. I couldn't believe the man who hadn't shown any emotions since I met this group could show so much emotion and that he couldn't wait to be a daddy.


	4. Chapter 4

Things were finally looking up in this doomed world. I finally was able to hold my head up high and smile. I went outside and took a big deep breath and enjoyed the sunlight, ever since it happened the sun seemed to shine brighter. I reflected on what had happened in the last few months.. with getting pregnant from a one night stand unexpectedly by a man who wasn't really sociable and then getting proposed to by the very same guy. Daryl had changed for the better, he was more sociable now and smiled a little bit more, even though he wouldn't admit it. I loved this new side of him, he loved our baby with all his heart and even though when I found out that I was pregnant I thought he didn't give a shit about me or this baby but after we argued and I walked off and wanted to be by myself he came around and told me that he's sorry that he got me pregnant at this point with all the death and devastation and horror in the world.

I sat down in the sun and leaned back, it felt great even though I always had in the back of my mind that something could and possibly would end up spoiling this great moment. I rubbed my belly and I smiled and talked to my belly all of sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped and turned around to see Daryl standing there. 'Sorry to scare you' he said. 'It's fine' I said with a smile. He sat down next to me and started rubbing my belly and felt the baby move around and said 'I don't think you're going to get any much bigger. You look like you're fixing to pop' and I started laughing 'You're telling me. You're lucky you don't have to carry this weight around.' He looked at me with a depressed look and I lifted up his chin and asked him what was wrong and he started to cry and said 'I shouldn't have even tried what happened in that guard tower that night, if I had just said 'NO' or pushed you away or kept my pants on you wouldn't be in all this pain' I looked at him and said 'Don't feel bad, we both did it and hey I'm honestly happy that if I'm carrying anybody's child it's yours. Don't blame yourself, we both had a hand in creating this little human.' I lifted both his hands and put them both on my belly, 'This baby doesn't care what we did, all that matters is that we be the best parents to this little human' I told him. He wiped tears away.

Later on that day, I was holding Judith when Daryl came up to me and said he, Rick and Glenn were going out on a run. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, whenever he said he was going out on a run I always wondered what I would do if he didn't come back. 'Be safe' I said and he hugged me and said 'You too' and kissed me and bent down and hugged and kissed my belly and said 'Don't worry Lil Ass Kicker, Daddy's gonna come home in one piece!' I broke down and cried as soon as I saw the three of them leave. Honestly, they all needed to come back safe, because Carl and Judith need Rick and Maggie needs Glenn and me and this baby need Daryl. Maggie came over and said 'Trust me they will all come back. Daryl's a strong guy and he can handle anything that's thrown his way!' I smiled and said 'Thanks'. I knew he could handle himself, but what if a group of walkers gang up on them? What if he got stuck somewhere? What if they left him behind? ...

I sat down and played with Judith with Carl and Beth, while out on a run a few months back someone brought toys and coloring books and crayons and I was happy to just relax. I couldn't help notice that Beth kept looking up at me. I asked her if everything was okay and she said 'Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out how much longer til we have another baby to bask over like we did with Judith' and I was smiling. Beth seemed to do so great with Judith, and if I ever needed a baby sitter she'd be the person I'd go to first, she was just all around great with kids. I leaned back and felt a sharp pain in my stomach, and let out a loud cry of pain. Everybody ran over to me and asked if I was okay and what happened. I told them that I was and they wanted to make sure. Hershel came over and asked what the pain felt light and I said it felt like somewhat like a stabbing pain, but it was going away. He said I needed to pay attention, because it sounded like a contraction coming on. I was scared, all this time I wanted this baby and now the talk of contractions was scary.


	5. Chapter 5

It was dinner time and we had whatever we could scavenge from supply runs and once in a while a deer that was out in the woods behind the prison. I sat down and honestly enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature, besides the walker moans and groans. I was so happy that Daryl came back home in one piece and he found all sorts of things. He brought back meds, books, toys, stuffed animals, formula, anything you could possibly think of. After he found out about this baby he changed his tune and started grabbing up anything he could stuff into his bag while on supply runs. I couldn't complain, some of the outfits were so cute and the stuffed animals, even though I was an adult I had a soft spot of stuffed animals.

While looking around the prison, Glenn found a camera that instantly showed the picture after it was taken and asked me and Daryl to stand up and pose. We stood against of the outside walls of the prison and Daryl put one arm around me and then put the other on my belly and I put my hand over the top of his and we smiled. It might be the only picture we ever have of each other, in any case if something does happen to one of us atleast our child can see what we looked like. We looked like a happy couple and to be honest we were, I mean we had a falling out when I first approached him about this whole situation, but after that we got along perfectly.

After dinner we settled into bed and I had the sharp pains in my stomach again and I kept trying to tell myself 'They'll pass. They'll pass' but they didn't pass. I kept trying to get comfortable, but it didn't happen. I kept telling Daryl 'I think the baby's almost here...' and he said 'Do you want me to go get Hershel to make sure everything is alright' and I said 'I think that it would be a good idea' and he got up to leave and I stopped him as he was about to leave and asked if he'd help me up and he did and I stood by the cell door and I heard water hit the floor. I looked at Daryl and he looked at me and got all panicky and I felt another sharp pain hit and screamed out in pain. I heard a bunch of feet rushing towards me. I kept screaming and Daryl walked over to me, and I said 'I guess we're fixing to see what we created.' He looked at me and turned white. Daryl scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the medical ward of the prison and laid me down on the bed and kissed my forehead and grabbed my hand. I was in so much pain and Hershel started examining me and I kept wanting to push, but he said I wasn't that far yet. I kept crying and screaming, after all this time I was going to see what all those many months ago I helped create. What seemed like hours and hours passed and I still wasn't where I needed to be. I couldn't contain it anymore I had to push. I knew I shouldn't but I had to. I pushed and started crying and screaming and I looked over at Daryl's face and he was crying right along with me he kept saying 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' and I reached over and brushed his hair out of his face and said 'It's going to be just fine trust me.' I felt something else trickle down my leg when I pushed and Hershel told me to stop because it was blood. I felt like something was wrong, and after a few more hours of being in pain and still not being fully dilated I didn't know what to do. I squeezed Daryl's hand so tight I felt him tense up.

I asked Hershel if there was another option, and what would happen if I didn't fully dilate. He said that if it doesn't happen then I'd have to have a c-section and I got scared that's the way Lori died and I didn't wanna end up like her, not at this point. I finally was dilated enough to where I could push but I was so tired that I couldn't really even push now. I pushed a few times and nothing happened. Just more blood and pain. I was ready to give up when Hershel said that if I wanted to the other option was on the table. I opted for that, knowing that it was scary going into it but also knowing that I didn't want this baby to die. Carol helped prep me and told me that it would be okay. I looked at Daryl and he was still crying his eyes out. In between screams and cries I heard him say 'Sorry' and some other stuff. I felt bad for him having to feel like he caused his, because in reality it wasn't his fault. I squeezed his hand super tight, in reality I wanted him to kinda feel pain like I was feeling. I felt the blade go in and felt the blood gush out and cried and screamed in so much pain. Hershel seemed to know how far to cut down and I was on the verge of passing out and about the time I closed my eyes I heard a cry. My vision was blurry and I ended up letting go of Daryl's hand and passing out. Hershel stitched up the wound after he cleaned it. I woke up about an hour after it happened and looked over and saw Daryl holding our baby and he had an outfit on it and I said in a low voice 'Well what's the result?' and he let me hold it and I saw it had a pink outfit on with little pink socks. I cried and asked 'Are you serious?! A little girl?!' He smiled at me and said 'Dead serious.' I started twist over to kiss him and felt a sharp pain and he said 'Woah hold up, you're not gonna be able to move for a little while.' I asked a bunch of questions about it since I didn't remember much. He said 'Well you opted for a c-section and about the time you got cut open you passed out and you missed everything. You missed me crying and trying to wake you up and missed seeing her when she came out.' He did show me pictures, that Glenn took of him cutting the cord and first holding her. I cried and couldn't believe all this time I had a little girl to keep me company. Daryl kept showing me how to hold a bottle and everything, he learned a lot from taking care of Judith over these last few months.

I was really happy because this was the day I finally met the little person that I helped create. Daryl kept wanting to hold her, but when I offered he said 'No go ahead.' and he just wanted to do everything he could for us both. He said runs were off until this little girl was about my age, and I just laughed. Daryl went over to rub her little head and she grabbed his finger and it was the cutest thing I had ever seen. He said 'Girly you've got a grip like your mommy' 'She's our little Miracle in every sense of the word.' I told him as I kissed her. I handed her to Daryl and he started to play with her, he was still kinda iffy about everything I guess cause he was a tough guy and didn't want to break her. I said 'You're not gonna break her trust me.' and about that time Carl came in and was asking 'What is it?! What is it?!' and Daryl said 'It's a girl!' and Carl was kinda bummed out, but also happy. 'YAY! ANOTHER BABY! YES!' and I smiled. Daryl let Carl hold her and he asked what her name was and if we still went with what we chose before we knew. Daryl told him that her name was Miracle. A little while later Rick came in holding Judith, and walked over to Daryl and lightly tapped him on the shoulder and said 'Welcome to the club big guy' and Daryl smirked.

I never really pictured Daryl as father material, but this baby changed him for the better. I honestly think that this was a chance for him to prove himself. These last few months were tough, for him I believe. He thought he put me in a bad spot by agreeing to let a random group of strangers in, who turned out to be really dangerous and almost killed everybody here. Also that he blamed himself for my unplanned pregnancy. He blamed himself for lots of things. He blamed himself for his brother's death, which he had no part in. I kinda wished Merle was here to see his niece, even if he was a dick most of the time. Daryl was just like everybody else, he lost someone in this crazy world we have now. He shouldn't blame himself for being the guy he is. This baby brought out a side of him I'd never seen before, a soft, gentle side. I hoped he'd get to enjoy it.

After Rick and Carl left, Maggie and Glenn came in and admired our baby. Maggie even got to hold her, during my pregnancy Maggie told me that she had a scare and it frightened her, since she was the one there when Lori died. Soon after Maggie and Glenn left Beth came in and was all happy over it. I saw her eyes light up. She started singing to her and everything. Beth was honestly a good girl, she didn't ask for much and cared about lots of people, even if they weren't blood. I admired her in that way. I wish I was more like her to be honest. Beth sat down in the empty chair by the bed and just played with her. I looked at Daryl who was watching every movement she made, he was new to this parenting thing and still weary of everyone putting this hands on his daughter. I slapped him on his shoulder and whispered 'She's not going to hurt her, trust me.' He grunted at me. Beth got up to leave and handled her to me and said 'Any time you want to have some time to yourselves you know where to find me.' After she left Hershel and Carol came back in and asked how I was feeling. I said 'Sore and sleepy' and they both laughed and Carol walked over and sat in the chair next to Daryl and asked if she could hold Miracle. Daryl kinda hesitated but gave in. She looked down at her and started 'oooing' and 'aweing' at her. Carol lost her daughter Sofia shortly after this outbreak started my heart really went out to her. Daryl was out looking for her every single day and even seriously injured himself in the process. Which made this moment even more special.

Shortly after Carol held her Hershel came over and held her. We were all like family here, and this baby proved it. I loved that just because we were all different and had no relationship and that even in a horrible time like this, that one thing could bring people together. Hershel gave her back to Daryl and said 'She's adorable. Keep her safe!' and I smiled and said 'Don't worry her daddy is already watching her like a hawk.' Daryl looked down at her and smiled and said 'She's my whole entire world, and if anybody messed with her I'll stomp their ass into the ground.'


End file.
